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By Dominic Evans
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The Saudi Arabian consul in Istanbul opened his mission on Saturday to show that the prominent Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing for four days, was not on the scene and said that any discussion of his abduction was unfounded.
Reuters reporters visited the six-story consulate in northern Istanbul where Khashoggi went on Tuesday to obtain documents regarding his upcoming marriage. His fiancee, who was waiting outside, said that he never went out.
Turkish officials claimed to believe that he was staying inside the consulate, and Ankara said Saturday that prosecutors had opened an investigation into his disappearance. Saudi Arabia says it left the consulate on Tuesday after filling out its papers.
"I would like to confirm that … Jamal is neither at the consulate nor in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the consulate and the embassy seek to seek him," said consul general Mohammad al -Otaibi in an interview at the consulate.
"We are worried about this case."
Khashoggi had been living in voluntary exile in Washington for a year, claiming that he feared being criticized for his criticisms of Saudi politics, including the Yemeni war and the crackdown on dissent in which dozens of people were arrested.
Human rights groups have asked Saudi Arabia to check where he was. Human Rights Watch said that if Saudi Arabia had arrested Khashoggi without recognizing him, his detention would constitute enforced disappearance.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg earlier this week that the Saudi authorities would allow Turkey to search the consulate, but the Turkish authorities have not yet entered the scene.
Otaibi said that there was no legal charge against Khashoggi at the consulate, and he visited the building in Reuters to demonstrate that the missing journalist was not on the scene .
NO CAMERA FOOTAGE
Opening cupboards, filing cabinets and wooden panels over the air-conditioning units, Otaibi walked the six floors of the building, including a basement prayer room, offices, visa counters, kitchens and toilets as well as storage and security space.
He added that the consulate was equipped with cameras but that he did not record any video footage. No image of Khashoggi entering or leaving the consulate, surrounded by police barriers and surmounted by a high security fence topped with barbed wire, could not be recovered.
The building has two entrances to the front and back, and Otaibi said that Khashoggi could have left from one side or the other.
"If those who say that he was kidnapped focus on his participation in the mission, these are just rumors that have no evidence," he said. "And we regret regrettably some of the statements of Turkish officials who insist that (Khashoggi is) at the consulate … without it being built on facts."
AK party spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan promised that the authorities would reveal Khashoggi's whereabouts and details of his disappearance, saying the case was extremely sensitive for Turkey.
Relations between the two countries are already strained since Turkey sent troops into the state of Qatar, in the Gulf, last year, to show its support after its Gulf neighbors, whose Saudi Arabia imposed an embargo in Doha.
Otaibi said the authorities of both countries were in contact. "Let's leave some time and a chance for both parties to see results."
The idea that Khashoggi was abducted from the consulate was "disgusting", he said. "The idea of abducting a Saudi citizen by a diplomatic mission should not be evoked in the media."
Khashoggi is a familiar face of political debates on Arab satellite TV channels. He advised Prince Turki al-Faisal, former chief of intelligence services and Saudi ambassador to the United States and Great Britain.
Over the past year, he has written articles for newspapers including the Washington Post, criticizing Saudi Arabia's policies against Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen and the crackdown on dissent that led to the detention. dozens of people.
(Additional story by Sarah Dadouch, edited by William Maclean)
